Whatever It Takes
by lagrimasnegras
Summary: Lily Evans hates Sirius Black. Then she finds out that she has to spend her whole Christmas Break with him. Sirius/Lily, eventual James/Lily.
1. Confronted

A/N: Sirius/Lily fic! It'll end up James/Lily, of course, otherwise there'd be no Harry Potter. And that wouldn't be good, now, would it? Btws, I haven't read these books in siriusly (haha…wow, I'm dumb) half of a year. And I don't own them. I know, I know…how do I survive? So if I am wrong on something please don't hesitate to tell me! And can anyone tell me when Lily starts going out with James? Ashamedly, I forget…I shouldn't be allowed to call myself a HP fan anymore…but please tell me…the life (and canonability) of my fic depends on it! P.S. Newly edited, and I'm having trouble with tenses...ah well.

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**Whatever It Takes**

Lily's POV

He hates me, and I gladly return the sentiment. He hates me because James spends so much bloody effort trying to get my attention. I hate him because he's James' friend. If that's not proof enough that he's a rotten scumbag, the girls that I meet weekly crying in the bathroom on account of him are.

Then I got the letter. That non-magical letter from home. Mum told me that she, Dad, and Tuney were going to go visit my aunt, uncle, and cousins who lived across the Atlantic for Christmas. I would be staying at Hogwarts. Well, I was enthralled. I asked all of my friends if they were going to be staying, I had never bothered to ask before. "Are you mad?" Juliet exclaimed, giving me the strangest look. "This is the worst place to be in the world over Christmas break!"

I became desperate. I even began asking boys if they were staying, although, of course, I stayed clear of James and his friends. Not even Sev was staying. The day before most people left, Sarah Peterson stopped me in the hallway. I hardly ever talked to her; all I really knew was that she was a Hufflepuff who was rather talented at Charms and applying makeup, and that, about a month ago, Sirius Black had stolen her heart and promptly broke it within the week. He laughed; she cried. I glared at him whenever I possibly could. What a conceited bloke! Somehow, it seemed as though the other girls never learned.

"Hullo," said Sarah slowly. I nodded in response, unsure of what else to do. I really wasn't quite sure why Sarah was talking to me, considering that she and her friends were typically quite shallow and usually spoke only of boys.

"I thought you should know," she continued, wrapping her hand around my forearm and dragging me to a less crowded area of the corridor, "that you won't be the only one in the Gryffindor Tower." She paused, I leaned in closer in anticipation. "Watch out for Sirius Black." I blinked in shock and stepped back. Then I saw the pity in her eyes. Oh, Merlin, what was I going to do?

"Thanks," I muttered emptily, and strode away.

Why, oh why, didn't that Sorting Hat put him in Slytherin?

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**A/N**: Okay, maybe that was a bit too short. But it'll get longer...Sirius' POV next!


	2. Unwanted Company

**A/N**: Okay, this has nothing to do with Harry Potter, but I HATE ADVANCED PLACEMENT COLLEGE BOARD EXAMS. That is all.

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_Sirius' POV_

I was in a rather good mood. Christmas had nearly come and I was not going back to Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, if I could help it. Of course, I could stay with James and I'd have a great time, if you exclude all of the mentions of Lily Evans and how badly he missed seeing her. That would definitely be a downside to my Christmas Break. Yes, staying at Hogwarts was the best option. Besides, I would be able to snoop around the castle virtually unnoticed with no one watching, looking for any other rooms or passageways to add to the map.

I chanced upon Regulus between Charms and Potions on the last day of school before the holidays. He considerably flattened my spirits. I don't usually talk to my brother, even though we're on good terms with each other. We're just in rival Houses, and my parents and aunts and uncles hail him as the firstborn son, because he achieved everything that my parents had expected me to do. At least I, not the Black tradition, had control over my life. Apparently, he was doing well as a third-year in Slytherin, because he had been talking to at least two Slytherin boys my age before he stopped me (the fifth-years abandoned him when they saw him making his way towards me).

"Sirius," he grinned up at me. When he's my age, he may be nearly half as good-looking as I am, but really, who knows. "So I assume you've heard about the Mudblood, right?" I sighed, realizing that Regulus would never learn that calling people Mudbloods was wrong.

"Which one?" I'd heard more than enough stories about his friends hexing several Muggle-born wizards and witches. Don't get me wrong, I always enjoy a good hexing. But for Merlin's sake, why couldn't he just hex his friends, or those downright horrible prefects?

"That perfectly annoying girl in your House. I forget her name—she's a carrot top, though—Leha, Lola, or something like that." Oh no. This was not good. My brother's friends had just hexed Lily Evans. I, personally, didn't mind—considering that she's the strictest of those nasty prefects—but James would.

"What did you do to her?" I demanded. Regulus gave me a look of superior annoyance.

"I don't know what you're on about, really. It's not what I did to her, it's what you can do to her." He got that somewhat evil grin on his face.

"Honestly, Reg, I don't know what you're talking about." He looked at me in disbelief.

"I can't believe that you don't know—everyone's talking about it!" He seemed quite proud that he knew more than I did, and, well, I'm just a little less than patient.

"Tell me!" I growled.

"Okay, okay! She's not going home for Christmas." I groaned. I began considering returning to Grimmauld Place.

"Why?" I demanded in anguish. I wouldn't be able to do a single thing with her nagging on me at all hours. Regulus just shrugged.

"Ophicus told me that her Muggle family is afraid of her and doesn't want her back." I snorted.

"I can imagine. I'm afraid of her and I'm a wizard." I waited till after Regulus laughed—when I was younger, my primary goal was to make him laugh—to add, "Though, if you heard that from Ophicus, it's most likely not true." He shrugged again, as if it didn't matter.

"Whatever. See you after the holidays." And with that, he turned and strutted arrogantly away.

I immediately became severely depressed and counted on my holidays as being nearly as miserable as being stuck in an empty room with Bella for an hour. It goes without saying that James needn't know anything about this.

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**A/N**: Wow, I don't know if this fic is even okay. It's really hard to write this while studying for 4 hour long tests haha, but I swear, it will get better. Well, I hope.


	3. Marauders

**A/N**: Thanks everyone soo much for reviewing/subscribing! Sorry, things have been just a bit slow recently...hopefully that'll be fixed soon...Either way this one is Sirius' POV again...

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We were eating in the Great Hall for the last time before the holidays. The four of us, though virtually inseparable, were never visibly sad that we'd be apart for two weeks. If anything, we were more, as Professor McGonagall said, "rambunctious". In fact, we had even scored a detention that would be served after the holidays. I grinned at the memory and took a bite of roast potatoes. Wormtail looked excitedly at me, then at James. I swear, he looked like he was about to explode.

"So, when were you planning on telling us?" I tried to give him a clueless look.

"Tell you what?" I said, mouth full.

"About your, er, roommate for the holidays, perhaps?"

"What?" Prongs laughed. "I thought you were going to be all alone, just like you wanted!"

"I thought so, too." I growled.

"I doubt you'll hardly see her at all, Padfoot," said Remus, trying (and failing) to hide a grin, "you both avoid each other if it can be helped."

"Wait, who are you talking about?" asked James, taking a swig of pumpkin juice. Peter acted on this fine opportunity.

"Evans, of course," he said. James promptly choked and spit his pumpkin juice all over the table.

"Good one, Wormtail," I clapped his hand and laughed. James went into a coughing fit.

"Why didn't anyone," he coughed again, "tell me?" More coughs. Moony shrugged and handed the sputtering James a napkin.

"What you don't know can't hurt you, especially when it concerns Lily…"

"Do you think—should I stay?" James looked around at us, his eyes hopeful.

"No," the three of us said firmly.

"You really should leave her alone for a while," Remus suggested. "I think she's had enough of you." I snorted.

"Understatement of the century," I smirked.

"But you will put in a good word for me, won't you, Padfoot?" His eyes were pleading.

"Sure," I said casually, "but I'm not planning on speaking to her. Honestly, I don't know why you waste your time on that girl." James looked at me with a gaping mouth.

"Just look at her, Sirius! Have you ever looked at her eyes? They're so captivating, so…" And this is the part where I groan and tune out. I have perfected the art of ignoring Prongs when it comes to his brainless rambling about Evans.

My eyes wandered to the Ravenclaw table, where I caught a dark-haired fourth-year girl staring at me. I didn't know her name, but I certainly could learn it.

Now why couldn't someone like that be my roommate for Christmas?

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**A/N**: I really have nothing to say...review, perhaps?


	4. Alone

**A/N**: haha, wow, it has really been a while. This chapter's longer than the other ones (thankfully), so hopefully you'll like it...

oh, I can't forget--a huuge thank you to all my readers and especially my REVIEWERS!

b4dawn101--I can't remember what song I was humming? Help me out lol. Keep reviewing, silly! xx

Basic Mione--thanks soo much for the reviews, encouragement and the information...it's been very helpful!

cubann--thanks so much for reviewing--I was about ready to give up, but every time someone reviews I get inspired again haha, thanks again!

the muddy worm--haha, sorry for the short chapters! the one after this one is VERY long...im not done writing it yet and its more than 1500 words...eep!

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Lily's POV.

Ugh. Where was that light coming from? And why wasn't anyone shutting it off? I opened one eye and groaned. The sun was blinding me. I looked around at the other bunks to see if the other girls were up yet. Their beds were empty—panic fluttered in my chest for half of a second. Of course, how could have I forgotten? It was the first day of the holidays.

I suddenly realised that it was late—not very late, but late enough—and that if I wasn't in the Great Hall soon, breakfast would disappear…literally. I got dressed as quickly as possible, smirking to myself that Black probably would be asleep for another good couple hours or so.

I left the Fat Lady's portrait and descended the revolving stairs to the Great Hall. I passed only a handful of students in the corridors and felt a pang of rejection. Nearly everyone else was at home with their family. Mine had deserted me. I sighed, opening the giant door and entering the Great Hall. My feeling of loneliness was accentuated by the fact that I would most likely be the only student at the Gryffindor table. I closed the door and turned towards the long table. Of course, it would be just my luck that he would be sitting there, sketching something intently while he ate. I huffed. So much for avoiding Sirius Black.

I carefully chose a seat that wasn't so far that I couldn't keep watch on him and whatever he was doing, yet not too close—I didn't want it to appear as if we were friends. As soon as I sat down, a full breakfast appeared in front of me. Sirius looked up at me and immediately folded the piece of parchment on which he had been drawing and placed it in his pocket.

"What was that?" I nodded towards his pocket, trying to sound more interested than interrogating.

"Good morning to you, too," he grinned impishly at me. I was about to pull out the "I'm a prefect" card on him, but decided that doing so would most likely result in a bad start for roommate relations. I changed the subject.

"Why are you up so early?"

"My mum sent me a Howler just before dawn, straight to my room." He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest, obviously proud that he had received a Howler.

"Whatever did she send you a Howler for?" I asked, thoroughly confused. I would positively die of mortification if my mother ever sent me one—that is, if she even knew what a Howler was or how to use it.

"I didn't come home." He made a face. "You see, they're Slytherins. Every last one of them. And besides, I like making my mother angry. She's so bloody annoying, with all this Toujours pur rubbish. If she knew that I was talking to you right now…" He smiled to himself, the look in his eyes showing his twisted motivation to talk to me.

"But anyways," he suddenly snapped out of his dreaming and refocused his eyes on me, "why are you here?" I sighed and poked the egg on my plate with a fork.

"They went to America for Christmas without me, to see my cousins, I suppose." I said, trying not to sound bitter. The strangest sound escaped his lips; it took me a moment to realise that he was laughing. It vaguely reminded me of a dog's bark.

"You're envious of your family for going to America?" he asked, looking at me as if I was joking. "Come on now, it's so much worse there—and colder."

"Besides the, er, lack of company." I reminded him, not in the mood to tell him that I would be happier if I were in the presence of different people.

"You mean the quality of company," he grinned. "Don't look at me like that—we're supposed to dislike each other, if you'd forgotten."

"I don't like you," I clarified, "and I never claimed to. You're arrogant and mean." I stuffed some of the now-cold egg in my mouth.

"If you say so." Sirius shrugged, the playfulness gone from his eyes, and began shovelling the last of his pudding into his mouth. We ate in an uncomfortable silence for a few moments, the happy chatter of the several other students and the discussions of the teachers made me feel even more alone. I wished that he would speak again…it was better than nothing at all.

Almost immediately, as if responding to my thoughts, the lean figure rose from the table and walked away, most likely headed back to Gryffindor Tower. His dishes evaporated. Now I really was alone. I sighed. Regina Hooper, surrounded by five other Ravenclaws, was giggling incessantly about what she was going to get for Christmas. I tried to drown her out with my thoughts, making a mental list of everything that I could do over the holidays—which was disappointingly short. I gave up on trying to ignore Regina and abandoned my long table to complete the most profitable task on my mental list—my homework.

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**A/N**: Okay, so possibly not the ending that I would've hoped for...but ah well. Reviews are, as always, lovely. xx


	5. Mistletoe

A/N: Arghh…I need a beta for this fic! Anyone willing/know of a good one? (aka one that won't beat me over the head for it being SiriusLily). This chapter is looooooooong….overcompensation for the small ones I've previously done! x

Oh yeah—hehehe.

b4dawn101—oh lmao, that song. Fine, I'll recite that silly Wormtail rap…hahaha. You're gonna killlll me.

Cubann—hehe-yay! Thanks for reviewing after reading…I get mad when people put me on their favourites and don't review…grr! Ahhh, anyways…

Aarg—I think that Sirius' mum still has some hope that he'll come back and act like a Black, though if I were her I wouldn't hold my breath…

MarauderetteLily—alright haha I'm updating! And this chapter is extremely. ginormously. long.

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_Lily's POV…again._

Honestly, how much homework could these professors give? I had to write an essay for Slughorn, read the next two chapters in A History of Magic, perfect performing eight different charms, and practise turning beetles into jewellery, among loads of other things. I had already written the Potions essay and could flawlessly perform five out of the eight charms, but I really wasn't in the mood for reading history. After staring at the same page for two minutes, I slammed the book shut. I could read this later—after all, I had two whole weeks to do it. I concentrated on yet another charm.

"Locomotor—" I looked around the room for an object to move, and spied an already-floating candelabra. I pointed my wand at it and began magicking it across the room.

Hardly a second later, I heard—and felt—a small explosion. It rattled the windows in the dormitory. I jumped, breaking my concentration on moving the candelabra. It fell at the foot of Marissa Curtis' bed. My brain, in shock, took too long to process what was happening. All of a sudden, I saw a tiny flame creeping up the corner of Marissa's bedspread. I heard someone from the common room shouting profanities that perfectly described what I was feeling. I ran over to the bed, completely horrified.

"Aguamenti!" I cried, and a stream of water shot out of my wand and onto the bed. The mini-fire hissed furiously, but soon gave up and went out. I flew towards the door, flung it open, and ran down the stairs into the common room. The room was buzzing with the complaints of several portraits. Sirius was still muttering under his breath, trying to replace a very fussy one back on the wall.

"No, no, no!" yelled a portrait of a wizard working with his alchemy set, "Put me down at once, young man! How dare you touch my frame!"

"Oh, shove it," Sirius growled at the portrait, heaving him back onto the wall.

"Sirius!" I shrieked, coming closer to him from across the room, "What did you just _do_?" He looked at me and then pointed behind him on the wall.

"Put him back where he belongs, of course," he said, indicating the portrait.

"That's not what I mean, you know that! What on earth were you doing? I—" I paused, unsure of the response I would get out of Sirius, "I just set a bed on fire because of you!" He burst out with that barking laughter.

"What? Never would've guessed a perfect prefect like you would have set things on fire on account of me," He smirked and looked at me. It was the sort of look that I would have expected out of James, not Sirius. It made me uncomfortable.

"Are you going to tell me, or not?" I asked, harsher than I had originally intended, but it didn't matter much. I crossed my arms over my chest in impatience. He sighed upwards, scattering his dark bangs away from his eyes.

"Someone put mistletoe in here," he pointed his wand at the ceiling, "so I thought that I'd get rid of it. For you, you know. Wouldn't want to be caught in any, er, situation." He visibly shuddered, smile still on his face. I tried not to flinch. I wasn't supposed to care. Sirius Black was not—and could not be—my type.

"I think you overdid the effect," I said somewhat grumpily. He shrugged casually.

"I got rid of it, though. And took the portraits off of the wall," he added happily.

"Uh, so what were you doing down here before your little, er, explosion?" I asked, trying to avoid the usual awkward silence.

"Playing wizard chess with myself," he smiled ruefully and walked over to chess table, "but it's so boring to play all alone." He flopped down on the blood red couch next to the chess table. He didn't even ask me to join him. Obviously, he had somewhat implied it, yet I got the feeling that he wouldn't have cared if I had left him and gone back to the dormitory—back to my homework.

I lowered myself into the large red couch across from him. The pieces began to rearrange themselves into a new game.

"So, Evans," Sirius said, smoothly as ever, "have you thought about giving James a chance yet?" My body stiffened. I tried to glare at him as menacingly as I could, though the expression on his perfect face didn't change one bit. I picked up one of my little white pawns and thrust it down two spaces ahead. It squealed in pain—if a chess piece could feel pain.

"No," I said icily, "And I won't. Ever."

"Ever?" Sirius repeated, looking at me dubiously, then moving his own pawn.

"Not unless he changes," I conceded, "significantly changes."

"Fair enough," He let it drop, thankfully. "It's your turn," he added.

"Oh, right," I looked down to the board.

"Pick me!" pleaded my bishop, "I know just the perfect place to move!"

"Yes," snarled Sirius' black knight, "where I will capture you single-handedly!" I ignored both of them and moved my relatively silent castle.

"Tell me about your family," I said over the hubbub of the chess pieces.

"What?" Sirius was gaping at me. This was the most surprised that I've seen him since—well, ever since I've known him.

"You heard me," I said, enjoying myself. "I want to know as much as I can about the wizarding world—and that includes learning about the major wizarding families." He sighed.

"I'm not sure you want to know. We're called Black for a reason." He muttered. But I did want to know. And now he had made me curious.

"Well, you can't be all bad," I persisted. "What happened to you? You're a Gryffindor," I added, stating the obvious.

"I've always been the rebel. And I don't want to turn out like them," he grimaced, "especially not like Bella." He saw the look on my face and explained, after moving his queen. "Bellatrix is the worst of my three cousins. I hate her. She's a Death Eater,"—he ignored my gasp—"and married another Death Eater—Rodolphus Lestrange—a few years ago. My family made a huge deal about it." He spoke as if he had a rotten flavour in his mouth and was spitting out the words.

"Oh my God," I breathed, staring unashamedly, "I had no idea that it was—that it was that bad. Are most of you like that?" He snorted.

"No, of course not. Too many Blacks are, but most of us are simply supportive. The only exception was—"

"You," I said, not wanting to hear it again. "I already know."

"No," he said, sounding mildly annoyed. "One of my other—damn, nice move!" He congratulated me as my arrogant little bishop knocked one of his pawns off of the board.

"Thanks," I acknowledged. "You were saying…"

"My other cousin, Andromeda. She was alright, especially for a Slytherin. She never took part in any of the Dark Arts and was the only cousin who was nice to me. The best part is that she married a Muggle. My mother burned her off of the family tapestry for it. Haven't seen her since." I gaped at him. I wondered if this sort of thing was normal in wizarding families. "And then there's Cissa…"

"Oh, her," I wrinkled my nose in distaste. I remembered Narcissa Black very well—cold, proud and beautiful. Thankfully she was five years older than I was and not at Hogwarts anymore. I didn't have to deal with her supercilious stares anymore. He laughed happily at my reaction.

"She's nothing but a pain in the arse." I mentally agreed with him but didn't say so. I scrunched one eye shut as Sirius' queen took my queen.

"So what's your story—from the Muggle side?" His grey eyes reflected the dancing firelight.

"Uh, well, there's really not that much to tell," I mumbled. Nothing in my former world was nearly half as exciting as things in my new one. "I could move things when I was little. It scared Petunia—my older sister. She's disliked me ever since I started coming here. Mum says it's because she's envious, but I really don't know anymore," I took a deep breath and continued, "and Sev has been my neighbour since, well, I can't exactly remember. He helps me get through the summer holidays." I couldn't read the look on Sirius' face.

"What?" he said, a smile playing at his lips. "You're neighbours with…Snivellus?" I bit my lip, trying to keep myself from exploding—Sirius would only tease me because of my horrible temper. Though Sev had been becoming stranger and more distant over the past few months, I still loved him. He was one of the few things I still had from home.

"Don't call him that," I said, digging my nails into my palms. "You're no better than he is!" Sirius didn't seem to hear me.

"James will be happy to hear this," he mused.

"That Sev is my neighbour?"

"Yes," he smothered a laugh, "James thought that you and your greasy friend had a, uh, you know, a thing…"

"What?" I attempted not to screech. Of all the stupid assumptions that those boys have made, that has to be the worst (besides the one in which James believes that I might want to be his girlfriend). Sev and I? No, that would never happen. I hadn't even ever thought of it.

"Oh my God," he groaned. "You can't say that you haven't noticed?" I gave him a blank stare.

"So you're saying," I said weakly, "that Severus is—is interested in me?" I tried to picture my best friend kissing me and shuddered in revulsion. I instantly felt guilty, but I had no interest in Severus, and I still didn't believe that he had any in me. Sirius had to be lying.

"It's kind of obvious," he said, rolling his eyes slightly, "when an aspiring Death Eater is friends with a Gryffindor Muggle-born girl, and he otherwise hangs out with other greasy creeps." He smiled to himself on the last line. I scowled at him.

"He is not a greasy creep," I said defensively.

"Whatever you say," Sirius said, but I could have sworn he said something else under his breath. I put my chin in my hands and looked at him for a moment.

"You know, I don't think that it should matter," I said finally. "It won't change anything." Sirius made a face.

"You're not easily swayed, are you?" I had to grin.

"No, I'm not," I agreed. I heard the faint chimes from the clock tower—it was already five o'clock.

"I think it's been your turn for the past half hour," laughed Sirius.

"What?" I asked, confused. "Oh!" I smiled crookedly, realising after too long what he was talking about. "Sorry, I forgot all about it. You were going to win anyway." He smiled, unwilling to challenge the fact.

"Are you hungry?" he abruptly changed the subject, taking me off guard. Was that what he was trying to do?

"No," I said, mostly because it was true and partially because I didn't want to subject myself to more questioning on my personal life. I stayed plastered to the couch. He stood up, gave me a mischievous smile, and sauntered out the portrait hole. I groaned. No doubt he was going to go looking for more trouble. I peeled myself off of the couch and felt miserable. There was a twisting feeling in my gut that I was trying my best to ignore. I almost wished that I had gone with him, even though he was most likely trying to beat his personal record of most school rules broken.

It was a mistake staying here. Not like I had any choice, but still. I was missing this stupid bloke who had gone from an enemy to the closest thing I had to a friend. How pathetic. Frustrated more with myself than at anyone else, I thudded dully back up to the girls' dormitory, ignoring the puddle of water at the foot of Marissa's bed, and threw my books onto the floor. I didn't care if it was hardly past five o'clock—I had nothing better to do. I crawled into my bed and drifted into a restless sleep.

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Whew! You made it to the end...congrats!

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	6. Chocolate Frogs

**a/n:** Oh dear, it's been far too long...but I had quite the case of writer's block, and the pool has been calling my name...anyways... :D

A million thanks go out to Kitty East, who somehow agreed to beta this...yay!

xoxcrescentmoonxox--Thank you! I do try do keep them in character; I'm not a huge fan of OOC fics and I don't think many others are either!

b4 dawn 101--noo, i would NOT like it if you got on my computer while i was asleep...you creeper. hahaha. btws you have to reread this chapter, changes have been made.

HeadWayUpInDaClouds--yay, I'm glad that you like my short chappies! Sorrowfully...they've grown quite long as of late...oh well. Glad you liked it anyway!

anablack1--yay! I'm so glad you liked it...here's an update, after about a century...:P

Kitty East--thanks so much for all the reviews and the beta-ing! I feel much more...secure now, hehe. Thanks again! :D

muddy worm--:D yay! I really need to write more, don't I?

anyway...

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**Sirius POV.**

It was early Christmas morning, and I had resigned myself to believe that I wouldn't receive any presents—it didn't matter that I belonged to one of the most prominent Wizarding families in Britain. I had known that I wouldn't get anything since I had decided to stay at Hogwarts over the holidays. It wasn't like I actually _wanted_ them to send me anything—if they had, it would be something like _Blood Purity: a Traceable History_, robes in Slytherin colours, or yet another Howler… in my case, receiving no presents was a good enough present for me. I figured I wouldn't be alone in my giftlessness—Lily, most likely, wouldn't get anything (unless James dropped to post-pathetic measures) since her family was thousands of miles away.

"_Sirius Black!_" a voice bellowed from the common room. Ugh. Talk of the devil.

"Coming, Evans," I yelled back. I was still wearing what I wore to sleep—Muggle clothes that Regulus had stolen but given to me when our mum found out and yelled at him—not for stealing, but for possessing Muggle clothes. I smirked. Well, I wasn't going to make her wait; it was her fault if she got – er – surprised.

I opened the dormitory door and walked downstairs to where she was waiting, fully dressed in her own Muggle clothing, by the entrance; a brown owl was sitting on her shoulder. She opened her mouth and then seemed to do a double take.

"It's winter!" she said, her bright green eyes widening. "You can't wear _that_!" Lily pointed at the bright blue basketball shorts and the sleeveless white T-shirt with some sort of sports logo. The owl on her shoulder hooted and bobbed its head.

"I can do whatever I like," I informed her. "What did you call me down here for?" Lily pointed to her shoulder.

"This owl won't get off my shoulder," she complained. Who did she think I was, a Junior Member for the Committee for the Disposal of Magical Creatures? "And it's got something for you." I looked at the owl, surprised, and recognised it…it was one that I had not seen in a very long time.

"Enwa?" I said, somewhat incredulously, and the owl gave a happy hoot and stuck its right leg out comically, digging its left claw into Lily's shoulder. I saw her wince. I untied the package quickly and opened it—it contained a letter and two Chocolate Frogs.

"I'll put her in Hera's cage for now." Lily said, disappearing up the stairs towards the girls' dormitory, with the brown feathery mass bobbing up and down excitedly.

I put the Chocolate Frogs on the table and opened the letter. A picture fell out—my cousin, Andromeda, with her Muggle-born husband, Ted Tonks, and what I could only assume to be their child, a pink-haired girl of about two. Andy, who looked exactly like a happy, lighter-haired Bella, was waving cheerfully at me out of the picture, and her dirty blond-haired jolly husband was doing the same.

All of a sudden, their daughter's hair went from straight to curly, then into a Mohawk. The little girl laughed, and her hair went back to being pink. She was a Metamorphmagus! She would have fun with that when she got to Hogwarts. I know exactly what I would do if I were a Metamorphmagus…

I grinned and began reading the letter.

_Dear Cousin,_

_Your mum's brother wrote to me the other day (don't ever tell your mum, she'd blast him off of that worthless family tree of hers) and told me that you'd not come home for Christmas. Your uncle says that the rest of the Blacks are absolutely furious with you, so I decided to write to you, since you most likely won't get any other sort of present._

_I'm sorry that we could only send you two Chocolate Frogs, but after leaving home there hasn't exactly been loads of money. Ted is starting his job at the Ministry on the first of January, but until then we'll just have to make do with what we have._

_If you've seen the picture that I sent, you will have noticed our daughter, Nymphadora_—Nymphadora?! Could she have picked a worse name? That poor girl, she'll hate it—_who turned two on the first of December. I do hope that you will be able to come for a visit sometime and see her. And keep in mind that, if your mum ever burns you off for being decent, you can always stay with us._

_Well, I really must close, there's quite a bit of food to prepare, Ted's family is coming to our home for Christmas. I do hope that they don't mind a bit of magic!_

_Wishing you a very merry Christmas, _

_Your Cousin__ Andromeda_

I folded up the letter and put it on the table. This, I felt, was a far better present than any other I could have received. I would write Andy back later tonight—there was so much that had happened since she left that I had to tell her.

At that moment, Lily came racing down the stairs, clearly glad to be rid of Enwa. Perhaps I'd have to write that letter sooner to save Lily from that owl.

I wasn't quite sure what prompted this cheerful Christmas spirit (considering that I've hated this time of year since I was eleven), but I decided to use it to my advantage. Cheerfully, I grabbed a Chocolate Frog and tossed it to Lily. She caught it and looked up at me in surprise.

"What's this for?" she asked, her green eyes wide. I forced myself to look away.

"Dunno," I decided on saying, looking purposefully at a spot on the wall over her shoulder. "Just thought that I might share my Christmas present with you, since you didn't get any." I shrugged in what I hoped looked like a generous manner, then chanced a look at her face: there was either anger or amusement playing behind her eyes.

Finally she grinned crookedly and chucked the Frog back at me. "Thanks, Black," she said as I caught it, "but I've got five of my own Frogs over there." Lily pointed to one of the scarlet couches, where a pile of presents, including oranges, joke products, socks, and Chocolate Frogs lay.

"What—how—?" I spluttered, eyeing the joke products. If she hadn't been so angry at that moment, I would've politely begged her for them—_she_ would never use them.

"Did you think that I was getting nothing?" she asked snappishly. "My parents sent them to Mary's mum last week to give to me, if you must know!"

"Sorry," I mumbled, slightly bewildered. How had this gone all wrong?

"It's alright," she said, smiling slightly. "Anyways…" She grabbed her robes, which were draped over a nearby chair. "…I'm going down for breakfast – want to come?"

"Er," I said, looking down at my attire. "I'll meet you down there in a minute."

"Right," Lily said, looking like she was trying to conceal a smile. "I'll save you a seat."

I started towards the stairs, but turned to see Lily stepping out of the portrait hole. I realised, with a sickening jolt, how difficult it had become to continue calling her "Evans". I groaned.

James was going to kill me.


	7. Breakfast

Haha…so the last time I updated this story was about ten months ago. And I just started it again…I hate abandoning my work. :( So here you all go, I'm sorry if it seems choppy-ish, again, I haven't written in a very long while. And pleaaaase give me constructive criticism. Thanks (: x

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Lily's POV! :D

As I approached the doors that led to the Great Hall, I realised with a fair amount of apprehension that, at half past ten, I would certainly be interrupting breakfast. I pushed the door open slowly, as quietly as I could, and peered inside.

There were no House tables; only one long one, at which most of the teachers and a few students seemed to be finishing their breakfast. I need not have opened the door quietly; the table was loud with talking and laughter and booms from joke products.

I slunk through the door and made my way to the closest end of the table, keen not to be seen by Slughorn, who thankfully was being distracted by Dumbledore's demonstration of a joke quill that would spontaneously burst into sparkling purple flames.

As the plates of food were appearing in front of me, a voice took my thoughts away from my rumbling stomach.

"Can I sit here?"

I peered up at the owner of the voice. Words seemed to fail me for a moment.

"Sure," I finally managed. Regina Hooper smiled and perched herself on the edge of the chair across the table. I was still bewildered; why would Regina want to sit with me? It wasn't like we were enemies or anything like that—we just didn't talk. I glanced to my left, down the rest of the table. The only other students were two Hufflepuff girls chattering so animatedly and quickly that an auctioneer wouldn't be able to understand them, and Savarin Macauley, a Slytherin boy who, as he was the only student of his House present during the holidays, currently looked very sullen. I suddenly understood why Regina was sitting with me.

"Where are your friends?" I asked somewhat delicately as I put some ham on my plate, hoping that she wouldn't think that I was trying to get rid of her.

"Library," Regina replied miserably, "and sleeping. If you hadn't been here..." She trailed off and cast a glance toward the entrance hall.

"Waiting for someone?" I asked, serving myself a large helping of sausages, at which Regina stared with utmost revulsion.

"Not particularly," she said in a light tone, looking from my plate to my face. "But—well, it's none of my business really, but where has your roommate gone to?"

"Black? I snorted as I speared a sausage on my fork. "I told him to put some clothes on. Proper clothes, I mean," I added hastily as her pretty blue eyes widened.

"Ah," she said simply.

"Why don't you eat something?" I said, attempting to steer the conversation away from the topic of putting on clothing.

"Oh, I'm not really a big fan of sausages," she said, looking warily at my plate. "Had a bad encounter ages ago...and now the scent takes away my appetite." Regina plastered a smile on her face that unfortunately looked more like a grimace.

"Oh, um, I'm sorry," I apologised, feeling a bit awkward. She didn't seem to notice – all of a sudden, she was sitting up straighter and grabbing a few pieces of toast to put on her plate. I was confused at first, given our conversation about food only seconds ago. Then to my right, the sound of chair legs scraping the floor to my floor hit my ears. I didn't even have to look to see who it was (but I did anyway).

"Hello again, Evans," Sirius said cheerfully, grinning at me. The combination of his voice and his smile made my stomach seemingly both plummet and jump up into my throat. I grabbed my pumpkin juice and took a quick swallow to conceal what I was sure my face was giving away.

"Morning, Black," I said in a pitiful attempt at a casual tone after I had replaced the juice onto the table.

"Mm," said Sirius, clearly not paying any attention to me anymore, as his eyes were on the girl across the table from me. "I don't believe we've met." He smiled and stretched his hand across the table. Not the friend-like grin that he had been giving me recently. He was looking at Regina with _the_ smile. She looked half enthralled that Sirius Black was talking to her, half annoyed that he didn't already know her name. The excitement winning over the irritation, Regina took the offered hand and shook it.

"I'm Regina Hooper, from Ravenclaw," she said, untouched toast abandoned on her plate. I wasn't remotely hungry anymore either.

"Ah, good to meet you then," said Sirius smoothly. "I hope we get to know each other very well over the holidays." The weak smile that she returned was utterly revolting.

"So, how have your hols been?" Regina asked Sirius—it was obvious that I was not invited to participate in this conversation. I mentally tuned out and brooded instead on the anger within. I had gone from indifference to hatred in a matter of sixty seconds. _They only like him because he's good-looking. All of them_, I thought angrily. But, then again, I supposed that I was no exception to this rule, and I wasn't even supposed to like Black, the scummy best mate of the, if possible, even more scummy Potter. _I can't deal with this._ I made a show of pushing back my chair and stalking out of the Great Hall. I didn't really care where I was going, as long as neither Sirius nor Regina were there.

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Haha...yep. Thanks to anyone still reading this. ;)


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